August 24 — In a rare show of tolerance in Internet policy, top party and government leaders in the prefecture-level city of Luoyang released a notice (通知) recently prohibiting subordinate offices from employing technical means to dig up information on individual Internet users with an eye for retaliation, Henan’s Dahe Daily News reported. The policy comes as ordinary Internet users are increasingly being targeted by local authorities in China for posting content regarded as damaging to local government reputations [See CMP on use of new public security law]. [See ESWN on Pengshui SMS case].

The Luoyang notice said, according to Dahe Daily News, that “in order to safeguard citizen’s freedom of expression” (公民言论自由), there will be a “strict prohibition” on the use of information technology tools to obtain actual data on Web users in “so-called ‘investigations'” aimed at making vindictive attacks (打击报复). The notice said telecoms operators and various online forums and government offices under Luoyang jurisdiction would have to “strictly” carry out various policies, laws and regulations concerning protection of the privacy of Web users. Violations would be reported immediately to law enforcement, the notice said.